Congressional Decisions: Crash Course Government and Politics #10

Summary

This Crash Course episode explores the factors influencing Congress members' decisions, focusing on constituents, interest groups, and political parties. It explains how these factors vary in importance and affect voting behavior, emphasizing the role of information in shaping policy. The video also discusses the impact of party discipline, the Hastert Rule, and the president's influence on Congress, highlighting the complexity of decision-making in a representative democracy.

Takeaways

• 🤔 The decisions of congressmen are influenced by three main factors: their constituency, interest groups, and political parties.
• 🗳️ Constituents matter most to representatives and senators, especially when voting on bills that can be checked by voters before an election.
• 🏠 Congressmen often focus on direct service to constituents, known as case work, to build up their record and spend more time in their home states and districts.
• 📊 Constituents' views can affect congressmen through public opinion polling, allowing them to anticipate and respond to voter preferences.
• 💼 Interest groups provide valuable information to congressmen for bill writing and policy cases, and are most influential during the committee stage of legislation.
• 💵 Interest groups contribute financially to campaigns and assist in bill writing, but their influence is often more about excluding provisions rather than inserting them.
• 🎉 Political parties can pressure congressmen to vote a certain way, especially when the party is unified and strong.
• 📉 The Hastert Rule exemplifies how party leadership can control what legislation comes to the floor for a vote.
• 🤝 Logrolling, a form of quid-pro-quo bargaining, is facilitated by parties and can occur during both the writing and voting stages of legislation.
• 🏛️ The president has the most power when their party also holds the majority in Congress, allowing them to set the policy agenda.
• 🚫 Divided government, where the president and congressional majority are from different parties, can lead to obstructionism and an opposition-focused policy agenda.

Q & A

What are the three main factors that influence congressmen when making decisions?

The three main factors that influence congressmen are their constituency, interest groups, and political parties.

How do constituents influence a congressman's decisions?

Constituents influence a congressman's decisions primarily through voting, direct service (case work), and public opinion polling.

Why do representatives pay more attention to their constituents when voting on bills?

Representatives pay more attention to their constituents when voting on bills because votes are a public record that constituents can easily check, especially before an election.

What is the role of interest groups in influencing congressmen?

Interest groups provide valuable information to congressmen for writing bills or making policy cases to their constituents. They also contribute to campaigns and assist in bill writing.

Why is the influence of interest groups more negative than positive during legislation?

Interest groups are more influential in excluding provisions from laws rather than inserting them, making their influence more negative. This practice is easier and helps to obfuscate their impact on legislation.

How do political parties affect lawmakers?

Political parties affect lawmakers by exerting pressure through party leadership, organizing logrolling, and setting policy agendas, especially when the party is unified and strong.

What is the Hastert Rule and how does it influence legislation?

The Hastert Rule is a practice where a bill is brought to the floor for a vote only if a majority of the majority party supports it. It influences legislation by ensuring party unity and discipline.

How does the president's party influence Congress?

The president's party influences Congress by setting the policy agenda when the same party controls both houses and the presidency, allowing them to take credit for successful policies or avoid blame for unsuccessful ones.

What is logrolling and how does it occur in Congress?

Logrolling is a quid-pro-quo bargaining system where lawmakers exchange votes on legislation. It occurs most obviously at the voting stage but can also be part of the writing of legislation in committees.

What is the impact of divided government on Congress's policy agenda?

Divided government, where the president and the congressional majority are from different parties, makes it easier for Congress to set a policy agenda by opposing whatever the president wants.

What are some other factors that influence congressional decision-making besides the main three?

Other factors include personal lives of individual congressmen, congressional history, and the structures and procedures of Congress itself.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ Factors Influencing Congressmen's Decisions

This paragraph discusses the key factors that influence congressmen when making decisions. It emphasizes the importance of understanding these factors without assuming mind reading abilities. The main influences are identified as the congressmen's constituency, interest groups, and political parties. The paragraph highlights how these factors vary in importance depending on the situation and explains how constituents' views can affect congressmen, especially during voting on bills. It also touches on the role of interest groups in providing valuable information and assistance in bill writing, and the influence of political parties, particularly when they are unified and strong. The paragraph concludes with a mention of the president's role in influencing Congress, especially when the president's party holds the majority in Congress.

05:00

🌐 The Influence of Political Parties on Congress

The second paragraph summarizes the influence of political parties on congressional decision-making. It points out that parties are most influential when they control both houses of Congress and the presidency, and when party leadership is strong enough to enforce discipline and policy uniformity. The paragraph also acknowledges other factors that may influence congressmen, such as personal lives and congressional history, but notes that these are beyond the scope of the discussion. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the structures of Congress and the majority party's control over leadership and committees. The paragraph concludes with a call to avoid cynicism and conspiracy theories when analyzing congressional actions, recognizing that decisions are the result of complex interactions among various factors, many of which may not be immediately apparent.

Keywords

💡Congress

Congress refers to the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is responsible for making federal laws. In the video, the focus is on understanding the influences on Congress members' decision-making processes, highlighting how they act and why they make certain choices.

💡Constituency

A constituency is the body of citizens entitled to elect a representative to a legislative body. In the context of the video, it's noted that constituents are one of the primary influences on a congressperson's decisions, especially when voting on bills, as they can directly impact reelection prospects.

💡Interest Groups

Interest groups are organizations that seek to influence government policy by representing the interests of their members. The video clarifies that interest groups are significant for congressmen, not necessarily through bribery or campaign contributions, but by providing valuable information and research to aid in policy-making.

💡Political Parties

Political parties are organized groups of people who share similar political views and work to achieve political power. The video discusses how parties can influence congressmen, particularly when they are unified and exert discipline, affecting how representatives vote on legislation.

💡Case Work

Case work refers to the assistance provided by a representative to individuals in their constituency, dealing with government agencies. The video suggests that congressmen may focus on case work to build a positive record with their constituents, which can be a more direct service than legislative action.

💡Public Opinion Polling

Public opinion polling is the process of surveying people to gauge their opinions on various issues. The video explains that congressmen use polling to anticipate and respond to their constituents' views, allowing them to align their message and votes with those views.

💡Committee Stage

The committee stage is a part of the legislative process where bills are examined and modified by committees. The video points out that interest groups are most influential during this stage, often by excluding provisions from bills rather than inserting new ones.

💡Logrolling

Logrolling is a legislative practice where legislators exchange votes on different issues to achieve a mutual benefit. The video uses this term to illustrate how party members can coordinate their votes to pass legislation that benefits their individual interests.

💡Hastert Rule

The Hastert Rule is an informal rule in the U.S. House of Representatives that a bill will only be brought to the floor for a vote if a majority of the majority party supports it. The video uses this to illustrate party discipline and its impact on what legislation is considered.

💡Divided Government

Divided government occurs when different political parties control different branches of government. The video discusses how this can lead to a policy agenda based on opposition to the president's proposals, as seen with the Affordable Care Act under President Obama.

💡Obstructionism

Obstructionism in politics refers to the deliberate blocking or slowing of a process, often for political gain. The video mentions obstructionism as a common tactic in Congress, particularly when the president and the majority party in Congress are from opposing parties.

Highlights

Introduction to the factors influencing Congressmen's decisions

Three main factors influencing Congressmen: constituency, interest groups, and political parties

Constituents matter most to representatives in a democracy

Congressmen pay attention to constituents' views, especially during voting

The decrease in important congressional votes in recent years

The rise of direct service to constituents, known as case work

Congressmen use public opinion polling to anticipate voters' wants

Interest groups provide valuable information to Congressmen

Interest groups are influential at the committee stage of legislation

Political parties affect lawmakers in complex ways

Party leadership can pressure Congressmen to vote a certain way

The Hastert Rule and its impact on bringing bills to the floor

Logrolling as a form of quid-pro-quo bargaining in Congress

The president's influence when his party also holds the majority in Congress

Divided government makes it easier for Congress to set a policy agenda

Political parties are most influential when they control both houses and the presidency

Avoiding cynicism and recognizing the complexity of congressional decisions

The importance of the structures of Congress and party majority

Transcripts

This episode of Crash Course is brought to you by Squarespace.

Hello, I'm Craig again and this is Crash Course: Government and Politics and today were gonna

look at why Congress acts the way it does. More specifically we're gonna try to figure

out as much as we can without being mind readers, the factors that influence congressmen when

they make decisions. And then after that we'll be mind readers and then we'll -- we'll see if we were right.

This should be a welcome change of pace from the last couple episodes where we delved into

the gory details of how Congress works or is supposed to work anyway. [shudders]

[Theme Music]

So, to over simplify greatly, but also to help those of you who studying for tests there

are three main factors or agents that influence congressmen in making their decisions: their

constituency, interest groups, and political parties. And they vary in importance depending

on the situation that a congressmen is in. Our basic understanding of democracy and representative

government suggests that constituents would matter most to representatives and senators

and fortunately, this is sometimes the case. Unfortunately, this is sometimes the case.

If a congress person ignores what the voters in his or her district want they're probably

not going to be in office for very long, representatives pay the most attention to their constituents

when they are actually voting on bills because votes are a record that constituents can easily

check, say right before an election. If this is the case then the relative lack of important

congressional votes in recent years tells us something. Nowadays, congressmen are more likely to depend on

direct service to constituents, what is sometimes called case work, to build up their record.

This might be why congressmen tend to spend much more time in their home states and districts

than in Washington, they might also want to check up on their lawn, you know grass grows

you gotta mow it. Constituent's views can affect congressmen without the threat of unseating

them in an election though, because congressmen can anticipate what the voters will want and

respond to this. They manage this through public opinion polling. The more sophisticated

polling is, the better representatives are at crafting their message, and maybe even

their votes to what their constituents want.

We're going to devote a number of episodes to interest groups in the future, explaining

what they are and where they come from. I know this because I'm psychic. But for now,

it is important to recognize that they are incredibly important to congressmen although

not for the reasons you might think. Let's go to the Thought Bubble.

OK, when I mention interest groups or say the phrase "special interests" you probably

imagine some guy in a suit -- maybe even a fedora -- surreptitiously handing a suitcase

full of money to a congressmen in return for his vote on some issue of supreme importance

to the interest group that the suit guy represents.

Or maybe you think interest groups are more subtle than this, buying votes with campaign

contributions, this stereotypical view presents a dramatic story and paints picture that sticks

in your head but there is no empirical evidence that it's true. I hope the fedora part is

true though. That's probably true.

The main thing that interest groups provide to congressmen is information that they can

use in writing a bill or making a policy case to their constituents.

One of the big things in American government is that information is very important and

very valuable. On the other hand, interest groups do give an awful lot of money to campaigns.

They also provide a lot of research and assistance in the writing of bills.

Interest groups are most influential at the committee stage of legislation, rather than

when congressman are casting floor votes and their influence tends to be mostly negative.

This means that rather than inserting items into legislation, it's much easier and more

effective to exclude potential provisions from laws. Plus, this practice -- and maybe

the fedoras a little bit -- makes it easier to obfuscate special interest influence on laws. It's harder to show

that interest groups have kept something out of a law than that they put something into it.

Thanks, Thought Bubble. That brings us to our third big influencer, political parties.

Whoo Hooo [popper pops]. Oh, not that kind of party. The way that political parties effect

law makers is even more complex than the role of interest groups. A disciplined party leadership

can put pressure on a congressmen to vote a certain way. They call them whips for a

reason. But this only works when the party is unified and strong. The weaker the party

the more freedom the representative has to go rouge on some issues and votes if there

are many different factions within a party, there's less of a consequence for voting along the party line.

This is why I don't have friends. Freedom. The clearest example of this is the so called

Hastert Rule named after formed speaker Dennis Hastert who would only bring a bill to the

floor of the house for a vote if a majority of the majority party, in his case, Republicans, supported it.

Side note, if you've got the majority and the party unity to pull of a stunt like that

you really end up looking like an effective speaker.

Parties also help to organize logrolling which is relatively straight forward quid-pro-quo

bargaining. You vote for my farm bill senator, and I'll support your banking bill. You vote

for my not punching eagles bill, Eagle and I won't punch you. Not voting for it? [clacks

to ground]. You've been logrolled. Is that how that word works?

Logrolling occurs most obviously at the voting stage but can also be part of the writing

of legislation in committees. When we talk about parties we talk about me. But when we

talk about political parties we can't leave out the president. Who is the de facto leader

of his party and it's own most influential member. I'm pretty sure you're aware of that.

The president has the most power when his party and the majority part in congress are

the same. When this happens, Congress usually follows the president's lead and allows him

to set the policy agenda. That way they can take some credit if the policy is a winner

and avoid some blame if turns out not so great.

We saw this most recently with the creation of The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) which

was written and passed during the first few years of the Obama presidency when his party,

the Democrats, also had the majority in both houses. Divided government, when the president

and the congressional majority are in opposite parties works well for Congress too because

it makes it super easy to set a policy agenda, they just oppose what ever the president wants.

This type of obstructionism is unfortunately pretty common in Congress today, just look

at the years from 2010 to 2012 when Congress's program could be summed up in four words,

"Repeal ObamaCare and replace it." Wait, that's not true, that's five words.

To sum up, political parties are most influential over Congress when a single party controls

both houses and the presidency and when the party leadership is strong enough to exert

discipline and a degree of uniformity of policy.

So that's about it for the factors that influence congressional decision making. Really Stan,

that's it? That's all? I'm going on break.

Well, obviously there are other factors like the personal lives of individual congressmen

and maybe congressional history but since this is broad survey of American government

and politics we can't easily get into that without taking less breaks. And, I'm gonna go on break.

For my money, it's the structures of congress and most of all which party has the majority

and thus controls the leadership and the committees that makes the most difference. Even though

I want to say and believe that constituents matter most because I don't want to feed into

this cynicism that seems to come so naturally to discussions of Congress.

But I think we should try to avoid any cynicism and conspiracy theories when we try and figure

out why a congressperson acted a certain way and recognize that any congressional decision

is the product of the complex interaction of a number of factors, only some of which will

be apparent. Each of these decisions will be conditioned and constrained by the structures

and procedures of Congress itself. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.

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